KR20070038241A - Array type print head and ink-jet image forming apparatus having the same - Google Patents

Abstract

An array type printhead and an inkjet image forming apparatus having the same are disclosed. The disclosed array type printheads are stacked and stacked one after the other to separate and accommodate a first member that draws ink of different colors into a second member and separate ink of different colors drawn from the first member, which are referred to as a third member. And a second member which flows out, wherein the third member is equipped with a plurality of head chips in which nozzles for discharging ink form a plurality of nozzle lines, and ink of different colors is supplied to each nozzle line. .

Description

Array type print head and ink-jet image forming apparatus having the same {Array type print head and ink-jet image forming apparatus having the same}

1 is a side cross-sectional view showing an example of a conventional printing head,

2 is a cross-sectional view showing an inkjet image forming apparatus according to the present invention;

3 is an exploded perspective view showing the array type printing head shown in FIG. 1;

4 is an exploded perspective view showing the bottom of the array type printing head shown in FIG.

5 is a plan view showing a head chip,

6 is a perspective view of the array type printing head shown in FIG.

7 is a bottom view of the array type printing head.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

130 ... printhead 131 ... support member

132 through-hole 133 fixed jaw

134,144,154 ... 1 fastener 135,145,155,165 ... 2 fastener

140 First member 141 Inlet hole

142 ... through hole 143,151 ... channel

146,157 ... groove 155,166 ... rib

150 ... second member 160 ... third member

161,162 Pathway groove 163 Head chip

163a, 163b, 163c, 163d ... Nozzle line 1631 ... Sealer mounting

174 ... First fastener 175 ... Second fastener

The present invention relates to an inkjet image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to an inkjet image forming apparatus having an array printing head having a nozzle portion corresponding to a paper width.

In general, an inkjet image forming apparatus forms an image by ejecting ink from a printing head (shuttle type printing head) which is spaced apart from the upper surface of the paper by a predetermined distance and reciprocated in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the paper (width direction of the paper). Say the device. The printing head is provided with a nozzle unit in which a plurality of nozzles for ejecting ink are formed.

In recent years, attempts have been made to implement high-speed printing by using a printing head (line printing method printing head) having a nozzle portion having a length corresponding to the width of the paper instead of the printing head reciprocated in the width direction of the paper. Since the printing head is fixed and only the sheet is conveyed, the inkjet image forming apparatus can realize a simple and high-speed printing.

1 is a side cross-sectional view showing an example of a conventional printing head.

Referring to FIG. 1, the body 1 made of ceramic is provided with a mounting portion 3 on which a manifold 2 having a space for supplying ink is formed. The manifold 2 has one inlet 4 and two outlets 5 and 6 provided at predetermined intervals so that ink can enter and exit, and the ink entering through the inlet 4 is discharged to the outlet 5 ( 6) flows to the ink cartridge not shown in the drawing and circulated.

One surface of the manifold 2 is attached with a nozzle portion 7 having a plurality of nozzles (not shown), and a printed circuit board 8 is attached to the other surface (opposite surface), and the nozzle portion 7 ) Is in electrical contact with the printed circuit board 8 to discharge ink under its control.

The conventional printing head has a structure in which four manifolds 2 are mounted at predetermined intervals on the body 1 to form a color image. Each manifold 2 supplies yellow (Y), cyan (C), magenta (M) and black (K), and discharges it to the outside through the nozzle part 7, and forms a color image.

However, there is a problem in that the material cost is increased due to excessive size of the ceramic body, and the material cost is increased by using a metal member such as aluminum in the manifold for supplying ink in the body. In addition, since the body has to manage a plan view for the attachment of the nozzle part, a subsequent process of attaching the nozzle part 7 after preparing a nickel (Ni) plate on the manifold (2) is required, resulting in an increase in the overall material cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above problems, the present invention provides an array type printing head having an ink supply passage structure in which a plurality of head chips are arranged in a plurality of rows, and four colors can be supplied to each head chip, and an inkjet image having the same. The purpose is to provide a forming device.

In order to achieve the above object, the array type printhead of the present invention is stacked and stacked one after another, and separates the first member for drawing ink of different colors into the second member and for separating ink of different colors drawn from the first member. And a second member flowing out to the third member,

The third member includes a plurality of head chips in which nozzles for discharging ink form a plurality of nozzle lines, and ink of different colors is supplied to each nozzle line.

According to the present invention, a sealant mounting portion may be formed around the nozzle line of the plurality of head chips to apply a sealant so that ink of different colors is not mixed or leaked to the outside.

According to the present invention, the spacing between the nozzle lines of the plurality of head chips is 0.3 mm or more.

According to the present invention, the plurality of head chips are mounted to the third member by using a sealant.

According to the present invention, there is provided an inkjet image forming apparatus comprising: a sheet conveying means for conveying paper in one direction; and an array type printhead for ejecting ink onto the sheet to form an image.

The array type printheads are stacked and stacked one after the other to separate and accommodate the first member for drawing ink of different colors into the second member and the ink of different colors drawn from the first member, and the third member. And a second head which flows out of the nozzle, wherein the third member is equipped with a plurality of head chips in which nozzles for discharging ink form a plurality of nozzle lines, and ink of different colors is supplied to each nozzle line. do.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an inkjet image forming apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the array type printing head shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the array type printing head shown in FIG. 3. 5 is a plan view illustrating a head chip, FIG. 6 is a combined perspective view of the array type printing head shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 7 is a bottom view of the array type printing head.

Referring to FIG. 2, the inkjet image forming apparatus 100 may include paper conveying means for conveying the paper P in one direction, and an array type printhead 130 for ejecting ink onto the paper P to form an image. It is provided.

The paper conveying means includes a conveying roller 110 for conveying the paper P so as to pass under the array type printhead 130, and a paper P having an image formed by ejecting ink to the discharge tray 191. Discharging medium roller 190 is included.

The feed roller 110 and the discharge roller 190 includes a driving roller and a driven roller which are installed in pressure contact with each other, and the paper P advances between the contact surfaces where the pair of rollers are pressed. Reference numeral 115 denotes a registration roller which aligns the paper P to form an image on a desired portion of the paper P. FIG.

The inkjet image forming apparatus 100 includes a paper feed cassette 101 on which paper P on which an image is to be printed is loaded, and a pickup roller 105 that picks up paper P loaded on the paper cassette 101 by sheet. It is provided. Moreover, the dryer 180 which dries the image formed in the paper P by ink discharge is provided. Since the inkjet image forming apparatus 100 having the array type printhead 130 has a high printing speed, the paper P may not be sufficiently dried and continuously loaded on the discharge tray 191 to cause smearing of the ink. Can be. The dryer 180 dries the image quickly to prevent printing defects due to such ink smears.

The ink cartridge 120 is disposed between the registration roller 115 and the dryer 170.

The ink cartridge 120 includes four ink tanks 122C, 122M, 122Y, and 122K, and four negative pressures, which contain ink of cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (K) colors. A negative pressure regulator 125C, 125M, 125Y, 125K and the array type printing head 130 are included therein.

The negative pressure regulators 125C, 125M, 125Y, and 125K adjust negative pressures of the ink flowing into the array type printhead 130 from the four ink tanks 122C, 122M, 122Y, and 122K. A function of preventing inflow of bubbles into the array type printhead 130 or leakage of unnecessary ink through a nozzle (see FIG. 3).

A platen 165 is provided under the array type printhead 130 to support a paper P passing under the array type printhead 130 and having an image formed thereon. This maintains a uniform gap between the array type printhead 130 and the paper P passing thereunder.

3 and 4, the array type printhead 130 includes a support member 131, a first member 140, a second member 150, and a third member 160 that are sequentially stacked and coupled to each other. do.

The first, second, and third members 140, 150, and 160 are formed by molding a liquid crystal polymer, which is a kind of polymer resin. The liquid crystal polymer is excellent in formability and chemical resistance and is strong in warpage due to external force, and thus is excellent in dimensional stability, and is suitable as a material of the printhead 130 requiring high flatness and dimensional accuracy.

The first member 140 is ink of cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (K) colors spilled from four negative pressure regulators 125C, 125M, 125Y, and 125K (see FIG. 2). Four insertion holes 141a, 141b, 141c, and 141d formed to enter the array type printhead 130 into the channels 151a, 151b, 151c, and 151d of the second member 150. It is provided. Specifically, cyan (C) as the first inlet 141a, magenta (M) as the second inlet 141b, yellow (Y) as the third inlet 141c, and the first Black (K) color ink may be drawn into the four-hole hole 141d. On the bottom surface of the first member 140, four inks of four colors C, M, Y, and K introduced through the four inlets 141a, 141b, 141c, and 141d are separately accommodated. Channels 143a, 143b, 143c, and 143d. The four channels 143a, 143b, 143c, and 143d are formed with through holes 142a, 142b, 142c, and 142d communicating with the inlet holes 141a, 141b, 141c, and 141d.

The second member 150 may include four channels in which ink of four colors C, M, Y, and K introduced through the four inlets 141a, 141b, 141c, and 141d is separately accommodated. 151a, 151b, 151c, and 151d. The channels 151a, 151b, 151c, and 151d are provided parallel to each other in the width direction of the paper, that is, in the longitudinal direction of the array type printhead 130. Cyan (C) color ink is accommodated in the first channel 151a, magenta (M) color ink is received in the second channel 151b, and yellow (Y) color ink is in the third channel 151c. May be accommodated, and black (K) color ink may be accommodated in the fourth channel 151d.

First to fourth channels 143a, 143b, 143c, and 143d are formed on the bottom surface of the first member 131 in the same pattern as the top surface of the second member 150. By such a configuration, the channels 143a, 143b, 143c, 143d of the first member 131 and the channels 151a, 151b, 151c, 151d of the second member 150 face each other. Sufficient ink containing space may be provided for each of the four colors of ink C, M, Y, and K.

A protruding rib 156 is formed at the edge of the upper surface of the second member 150, and a groove 146 is formed at the bottom edge of the first member 140 to accommodate the rib 156. The rib 156 and the groove 146 serve as alignment criteria when the first member 140 and the second member 150 are attached to each other.

The third member 160 has a plurality of path grooves 161 and 162 on the upper surface thereof, which serve as flow paths of the ink flowing from the second member 150. In the array type printhead 130, a plurality of head chips 163 are arranged in a zigzag in a width direction of the paper, that is, in a length direction of the array type print head 130 to form a plurality of head chip lines. . Accordingly, the head chip mounting portions 164a and 164b are zigzagly formed on the bottom surface of the third member 160 to form head chip lines.

The plurality of path grooves 161 and 162 of the third member 160 also correspond to the arrangement of the head chips 163 to supply ink to the head chip mounting parts 164a and 164b, respectively. The array type printhead 130 is repeatedly formed in the longitudinal direction. That is, the plurality of path grooves 161 and 162 are zigzag with each other. Therefore, cyan (C) color ink is formed in the nozzle 163a formed on the head chip 163, magenta (M) color ink is formed in the nozzle 163b, and yellow (Y) color ink is formed in the nozzle 163c. A black ink is supplied to the nozzle 163d to supply four colors to one chip, thereby realizing four colors to one head chip.

Path grooves 152 and 153 are formed on the bottom surface of the second member 150 in the same pattern as the path grooves 161 and 162 of the third member 160.

A protruding rib 166 is formed on the edge of the upper surface of the third member 160, and a groove 157 is formed on the bottom edge of the second member 150 to accommodate the rib 166. The rib 166 and the groove 157 serve as alignment criteria when the second member 150 and the third member 160 are attached to each other, and the second member 150 and the third member 160 may be aligned with each other. Suppression and warpage are suppressed to help seal between the second member 150 and the third member 160.

As shown in FIG. 5, the head chip 163 includes a plurality of nozzle lines 163a, 163b, 163c, and 163d at predetermined intervals, and each nozzle line 163a, 163b, 163c, and 163d uses ink. A plurality of nozzles for discharging to the outside are formed.

A sealant mounting portion 1631 for applying a sealant is formed around the nozzle lines 163a, 163b, 163c, and 163d and between the nozzle lines 163a, 163b, 163c, and 163d. 163c, 163d) is provided to surround. The sealant mounting portion 1631 may be provided to be slightly recessed to facilitate the application of the sealant.

An interval C between the nozzle lines 163a, 163b, 163c, and 163d is preferably 0.3 mm or more. This is to consider the amount to apply the sealant to the sealant mounting portion (1631) in order to firmly mount the head chip 163 to the head chip mounting portion (164a, 164b) of the third member (160). When the sealant is applied to the sealant mounting portion 1631 provided therein so that the gap C is 0.3 mm or more, the head chip 163 may be firmly mounted on the sealant mounting portions 164a and 164b.

When the head chip 163 having the sealant applied to the sealant mounting part 1631 is attached to the head chip mounting parts 164a and 164b, the sealant attaches the head chip 163 and the head chip mounting parts 164a and 164b. While the ink does not mix with each other and does not leak to the outside, a space is formed around the nozzle lines 163a, 163b, 163c, and 163d.

The support member 131 includes a plurality of through holes 132a, 132b, 132c, and 132d to correspond to the inlet holes 141a, 141b, 141c, and 141d of the first member 140, respectively. Therefore, when the first member 140 is superimposed on the support member 131, the leading holes 141a, 141b, 141c, and 141d communicate with the plurality of through holes 132a, 132b, 132c, and 132d. There is no problem in receiving ink from the ink tanks 122C, 112M, 122Y, and 122K.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the support member 131 includes a plurality of fixing jaws 133 provided to extend a predetermined length in a direction perpendicular to the length. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, when the first member 140 and the second member 150 are stacked and coupled to the support member 131, the first member 140 and the second member are combined. 150 is fitted between the plurality of fixing jaw (133).

Of course, in this embodiment, a portion of the first member 140 and the second member 150 is sandwiched between the plurality of fixing jaw 133 for the convenience of processing, the first member 140 and The second member 150 may be sandwiched between the plurality of fixing jaws 133, and the first member 140, the second member 150, and the third member 160 may all have the plurality of fixing jaws. It may be sandwiched between 133.

The support member 131 fastens the first member 140, the second member 150, and the third member 160 in the vertical direction by using fastening means. To this end, the fastening means includes a first fastening portion 174 and the support which sequentially fasten the support member 131, the first member 140, and the second member 150 from the first of the support member 131. A second fastening part 175 is provided to sequentially fasten the third member 160, the second member 150, the first member 140, and the support member 131 from the second of the member 131. The first fastening portion 174 and the second fastening portion 175 are preferably screws.

A plurality of first fastening holes 134, 144, 154, and a plurality of first fastening parts 174 and second fastening parts 175 may be fastened to the support member 131 and each of the members 140, 150, and 160. Second fastening holes 135, 145, 155, and 165 are formed, respectively.

A plurality of first fastening holes 154 are provided at both sides of the width W of the plurality of ink channels 151a, 151b, 151c, and 151d of the second member 150 at predetermined intervals. At this time, the first fastening hole 154 is provided so as not to interfere with the rib 156. Correspondingly, first fastening holes 134 and 144 are formed in the support member 131 and the first member 140, respectively. Therefore, the first fastening part 174 is fastened to the first fastening holes 134, 144, and 154 in turn so that the first member 140 and the second member 150 are fastened and fixed to the support member 131.

A plurality of second fastening holes 175 are provided at both sides of the length L of the plurality of ink channels 151a, 151b, 151c, and 151d of the second member 150. Correspondingly, second fastening holes 135, 145, and 165 are formed in the support member 131, the first member 140, and the third member 160, respectively. Accordingly, the first fastening portion 175 is sequentially fastened to the second fastening holes 165, 155, 145, and 135 so that the first member 140, the second member 150, and the third member 160 are supported by the support member 131. Fastened and fixed).

Each of the members 140, 150 and 160 is made of a liquid crystal polymer, and the support member 131 is made of stainless steel (SUS).

Each of the members 140, 150, and 160 is made of a liquid crystal polymer having excellent plan view among polymers, but the length of the array type printing head 130 is larger than the length of 210 mm of A4 paper. When it is injected, it is difficult to maintain the distance between the printing head and the paper in the longitudinal direction due to the warpage of the product. However, since the support member 131 is made of metal and has excellent strength and plan management is possible, the respective members 140, 150 and 160 are fixed by fixing the members 140, 150 and 160 using fastening means. By preventing the warping itself, the warpage can be suppressed to maintain the top view.

As described above, since the array type printhead according to the present invention has a structure capable of discharging four colors of ink onto one head chip, the width of the discharging surface can be relatively narrowed, and the size can be reduced. By reducing the curvature of the print media corresponding to the cotton has the effect of preventing smear phenomenon and jams during printing.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to one embodiment shown in the drawings, this is merely exemplary and will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various modifications and variations can be made therefrom. Therefore, the true technical protection scope of the present invention will be defined by the technical spirit of the appended claims.

Claims (8)

They are stacked and stacked one after the other to separate and accommodate the first member which draws the ink of different colors into the second member and the ink of the different colors drawn from the first member, and the second member which flows out to the third member. Equipped, The third member includes a plurality of head chips in which nozzles for ejecting ink form a plurality of nozzle lines on a bottom thereof, and ink of different colors is supplied to each nozzle line. . The method of claim 1, And a sealant mounting portion formed around the nozzle line of the plurality of head chips to seal the sealant so that ink of different colors may not be mixed or leaked to the outside. The method according to claim 1 or 2, And an interval between each nozzle line of the plurality of head chips is 0.3 mm or more. The method according to claim 1 or 2, And the plurality of head chips are mounted to the third member by using a sealant. An inkjet image forming apparatus comprising: a sheet conveying means for conveying paper in one direction; and an array type printhead for ejecting ink onto the paper to form an image. The array type printheads are stacked and stacked one after the other to separate and accommodate the first member for drawing ink of different colors into the second member and the ink of different colors drawn from the first member, and the third member. It has a second member to draw out, The third member includes a plurality of head chips in which nozzles for ejecting ink form a plurality of nozzle lines on a bottom surface thereof, and ink of different colors is supplied to each nozzle line. . The method of claim 5, And a sealant mounting portion formed around the nozzle line of the plurality of head chips to apply a sealant such that ink of different colors is not mixed or leaked to the outside. The method according to claim 5 or 6, Inkjet image forming apparatus, characterized in that the interval between each nozzle line of the plurality of head chips is 0.3mm or more. The method of claim 5, And the plurality of head chips are mounted to the third member by using a sealant.

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